It Happened One Night Shift

‘So drunk teenagers who go by the name of M-Dog don’t warrant the star treatment?’

Billie turned and frowned at him, surprisingly stung by his subtle criticism. ‘No,’ she said waspishly. ‘Some people respond better to a double-barrelled name. There are some patients, I’ve found, who are innately … snobbish, I guess. They like the idea of a doctor with a posh name. Guys called M-Dog tend to see it as a challenge to their working-class roots … or something,’ she dismissed with a flick of her hand. ‘And frankly …’ she sought his gaze as they pulled up at another red light and waited till he looked at her ‘… I was a little too … confounded by our kiss to speak in long words. I’m surprised I managed to remember my name at all.’

Billie held his gaze. If he was going to call her on something, he’d better get it right or be prepared to be called on it himself. She might be helplessly squeamish, she might not be able to stand up to her family and be caught up in the sticky web of their expectations but she’d been taught how to hold her own by experts.